‘80 percent Pak National Assembly members have more than one wife’
By ANIFriday, February 26, 2010
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Minister of State for Ports and Shipping Nabil Gabol has claimed that 80 per cent of National Assembly (NA) members have more than one wife.
Gabol stunned the house by saying that most of the lawmakers had more than one wife while he was responding to former Information Minister Sherry Rehman’s remarks that a man was not be allowed to enter into his second wedlock without the permission of his first wife.
“It should be left for Ulema to issue a decree whether anyone can have more than one wife or not,” Gabol said in reply.
Interestingly, none of the MNA’s (members of the National Assembly), present in the house during the discussion, rejected or confirmed Gabol’s remarks.
Maulana Abdul Malik, who represents the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in the National Assembly, however, supported Gabol’s stance on polygamy.
Reciting a verse from Quran, Malik said: “Faithful are allowed to wed twice, thrice or four times provided they can maintain justice between wives.”
It may be noted that recently a women member of the Punjab Assembly, who belonged to the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), had said that a Muslim man can have more than one wife without getting permission from his first wife. (ANI)
